CCRLD News Blog

CCRLD Newslog

The theme this year for pre-K through 6th grade is "Fizz, Boom, Read!" and the theme for 6th grade through 12th grade is "Spark a Reaction." Sign-ups are ongoing -- participants can pick up a packet of activities and a schedule of science-themed programs, and claim their free book!

If all Summer Reading participants can read a combined 1000 hours (verified by parent/guardian), Miss Amy has vowed to dye her hair the winning color as selected by poll (GREEN!).

This week the program kicks off with magician Louis Foxx on Wednesday, June 25th at 5:30pm in the Delany Room!

Teen readers grades 7-12 can enter our book review contest as part of our Annual Summer Reading Program, "Spark a Reaction," to win a Kindle FIRE!

But how to write a winning book review?

Pick a book that interests you!

Look for some examples of book reviews. Your favorite magazine may be a good source, or you can also find book reviews online at the Books section of The New York Times, the Powell’s Books Reviewa day, PeopleMagazine, Booklist, Teenreads.com, Teenink.com, Good Reads, or Kirkus Reviews. The library will have some links up on their webpage for you.

Pick out the main elements, which should include:

The book’s title and author

A brief summary of the plot that doesn’t give away too much

Comments on the book’s strengths and weaknesses

The reviewer’s personal response to the book with specific examples to support praise or criticism

Take notes while reading the book you are reviewing, so you can remember what points you want to make later and what specific scenes or quotes you might want to use to support those points.

Make an outline for the book review before writing, using one paragraph for each point you want to make about the book.

Some ideas to keep in mind while writing the review:

Does the book fit into a genre, like mystery or romance, and why? If you aren’t sure, ask your librarian for help!

When and where does the action in the book take place? Does the author do a good job of making you feel like you are there? How?

Are the main characters believable? Do you know anyone like them? Does the author adequately describe them?

What do you like or dislike about the author’s writing style? That is, do you like the way the author uses words?

Use concrete examples to back up your points, such as describing a scene that really moved you or using a couple of short quotes from the book.

Don’t forget to include your opinion of the book, whether you liked or disliked it and WHY!

Do some background research on the author. Sources might include the author’s personal website, the website for the book’s publisher, or biographies of the author. Learning information about the author and knowing what other books he or she may have written can add context to a review. Ask a librarian for help finding sources, if you can’t find any on your own.

Don’t forget to ask for help! The librarians at the Dayton Library are here to help you!

For more information or to pick up an entry form, please talk to the librarians at the Dayton Library. :-)

The Columbia County Rural Library District is asking for your help in redesigning the garden area in front of the library. As a continuing effort to grow and serve the community better, CCRLD would like to create an open and inviting outdoor space in front of the library.

The Columbia County Rural Library District and the Friends of the Dayton Memorial Library are sponsoring a design contest for the Bell Garden space in front of the library. The winner will be named at a special reception and will have the opportunity to see their design, or elements of their design implemented. The winner will also have a plaque in the garden and have the opportunity to name the new garden area.

Contest guidelines:

The space is 21’ 6” along the east and west edges and 19’ north and south. The bell is on a base, which is 3’ 8” square.

The budget for this project is $1000 for labor and materials.

The contest is open to all ages. Both groups and individuals are encouraged to enter.

Required elements:

There must be some spaces for seating.

All plants and other elements must be low maintenance

There must be at least 10” of hardscaping or xeriscaping/ drought resistance landscaping around the perimeter. This is to protect the basement from water damage due to maintaining thirsty plants. (Existing plantings will be relocated.)

The design must compliment the architecture; this includes incorporating the bell and design elements that are in scale with the building.

The winning design will be a pleasing and inviting space for people to relax and enjoy.

Preferred elements:

Xeriscaping (landscaping and gardening that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water)

Native plants

Low maintenance and weather resistant architectural/art elements

Edible plants

To enter, please submit no later than5pm, Friday, May 16, 2014:

A scale drawing of your plan, on an 11 x 17 sheet paper, that includes a key to the elements in your design.

A brief written description of your plan.

Contestant’s plans will be on display in the library from May 19 to May 29. Community members will vote to decide the winner.* A reception will be held in the Delany Room on Friday, May 30, 2014 at 6 pm to announce the winner.

Prize:

The winning designer(s) will see his/her design implemented*

The winning designer(s) will have the opportunity to name the new garden

The CCRLD will install a plaque engraved with the garden’s new name and the name of the designer(s) somewhere in the garden.

*If the results of voting are not decisive, the library reserves the right to use elements of the winning design along with elements of other designs, as the budget allows.

For more information, call the Columbia County Rural Library District at 382-4131, email library@daytonwa.net or come by the library at 111 S Third, Dayton.

History of Washington, The Evergreen State, from Early Dawn to Daylight is done in a grandiose and heroic style very common to late 19th century histories. The Editor, Julian Hawthorne (1846 - 1934) was the only son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and painter Sophia Peabody. The work was the editor’s second work of Historical Non-Fiction, following The Story of Oregon: A History With Portraits and Biographies, (New York, NY: American Historical Publishing, 1892.) Hawthorne was also known as a writer of gothically-styled Romantic Era novels, which were commercially successful but critically disdained for not following in his father’s footsteps. His non-fiction editing fared better in critical circles.

Colonel George Douglas Brewerton was a poet, sketch artist and painter who during his military service was part of Kit Carson's 1848 expedition from Los Angeles, California to New Mexico. He gained some notoriety for publishing a three-part work on the trip in Harper's Weekly. Brewerton came to Tacoma in the mid to late 1880s. WSL has a copy of a poem he wrote and recited memorializing the Grand Army of the Republic and fallen soldiers to a Tacoma crowd on Decoration Day (c/k/a Memorial Day) in 1889: